The Truth About The powder Faced Women
by jayk
Summary: Twenty years ago Emma, Steph and Beatrice were happy triplets until their home feel victim to an arsn attack, A mysterious man with a tatoo of an eye on his ankle kidnapped two of the children. Twenty years on the Baudelaire orphans uncover the truth...
1. The Man With Shiny Eyes

"Run! Children run!" shouted Mrs. Tarthwaite. Emma, Steph and Beatrice grabbed as much stuff as they could and ran to the front door. They had escaped the fire but there father was still inside the house. There mother looked on in amazement as she saw her husband running out of the house. "We are all alive" she screamed happily as she and her family had just survived a terrible fire. The children saw a large black automobile pull up across the road and a cat jumped out and ran into the house. "The sugar bowl! My sugar bowl is in there!" Screamed their mother, she ran inside after the cat thinking it had been sent in there to steal something. Followed by the triplet's father. Beatrice turned around to her 2 sisters "Who is in that car?" she asked. Steph and Emma turned and looked at the automobile.

"How do we know" they spat at there sister. Beatrice was always asking stupid questions that no one knew the answer to. Beatrice stepped towards the car and looked inside. No one was in there. She turned around and her siblings were gone. She ran into the house screaming desperately "Emma, Steph!" but no one answered. Beatrice walked outside and saw that her siblings were in the strange car. She walked towards it and tried to let them out but the doors were locked. Suddenly a man with very shiny eyes ran towards the car with her mum's sugar bowl and pushed his keys desperately into the lock. Beatrice knew he was a thief and she kicked him "OW" the man exclaimed dropping the bowl. Beatrice grabbed it and ran into the house.

She grabbed the phone and rung the police and fire brigade. 10 minutes later lights flashing blue were approaching. The man with shiny eyes saw and ran to his car. He drove away cursing angrily. He had Beatrice's sisters! Beatrice took a note of the license plate: I H8 ORFNS. She told the authorities and then searched the house for her parents. Her mother couldn't be found and her father's body was lying there in the ground. Burnt to a crisp. Beatrice cried for many nights knowing she would never see her siblings again and that they had been taken hostage. She had been at her house for 3 more nights with her Aunt Bella. The next day she was going to her cousin's house to live with them. On her last day she had discovered a secret passageway. She followed it for 6 hours and found herself in a Hotel. She wrote a few details down in her green notebook then she walked back down the passage with achy legs.

Aunt Bella had called the police straight away. 2 of her nieces had disappeared and now Beatrice had gone missing. At half past 7 the police had arrived and still there was no sign of Beatrice. They searched the whole house for and hour before they found her jumping up from a trap door. The police were very mad and they told her off then left the house. "tut, tut, tut" Aunt Bella said when Beatrice walked into the room. Beatrice walked upstairs and laid on her bed wondering what fate was destined for her. She was going to meet an Uncle she didn't know and her sisters had gone missing.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, a phrase which here means "at a completely different place and nothing to do with a ranch." An evil man was driving down Death Avenue, a street he knew well and he kept on driving into the city. The 2 girls were still in the back tied up and gagged. The car parked outside of a large hotel and the man got out leaving the children inside the car. He came back out with 3 tickets with the letters VFD inscribed on them. He got back in the car and untied the children "Your sister will be fine, just fine" he laughed and flipped their mothers sugar bowl into the air.


	2. The World Is Quiet Here

Emma and Steph knew that Beatrice had been given a second chance in life. If they had have listened to their sister just once then maybe they wouldn't be in this automobile with an evil and greedy man. They knew that he had walked into a hotel and had retrieved their bowl but Beatrice had the bowl. They just couldn't match all of the pieces together. Emma took out a yellow note pad and wrote a few things down about the hotel and the exact time he had been in the hotel. They were in the city driving down a long street in the centre of the city and the children wondered if the car would ever stop. Suddenly it turned left down a little alley-way and the car parked outside of a very clean house with nice windows and a nice view. He let the children out of the car and led them to his house.

"I am not a greedy man" he told the children "I am a member of a society named VFD, and this bowl that your parents had belongs to VFD, they stole it, we merely took it back." The children didn't for one minute believe that this kid-napper was a nice man, even if his house suggested so. "What about our parents?" Steph asked in anger. The man smiled "VFD do not tolerate thieves, they will get any thing they own back by any means" The man stared at the children as though he was lecturing them. A phrase which here means 'telling them something important and making an effort to make sure they remember it.' of course this was a lie, VFD didn't kill people at all to get what was theirs, they merely took the thieves children for a ransom. But the deed the evil man had done today was soon to be discovered by VFD and then there would be great uproar.

The children walked into the man's house and sat down at a large pine table in the front room. The man was on his phone talking to someone who the children didn't recognise. The children took advantage of this situation and both took out their notepads. They both wrote 'VFD' in large letters on a whole page each. The man walked into the room with two new looking coats and put each of the girls into a coat. Then he led them to his car and sat them down again. "We are going to VFD" he told the children then took something out of his bag. "This" he pointed to a tray of white looking cotton "is powder-puff" he took a wool ball and smeared it in the white cream "I want you two to put some on in case we see a certain man known as Jacques Snicket" He handed them the tray and went back to driving. Emma took out her yellow pad again and wrote 'place?' next to where it said VFD in her note pad and she also wrote the name Jacques Snicket.

The man turned around and smiled at them "I am 20, my name is Olaf and I am a senior officer of VFD. There are 3 of us; me, Jacques Snicket and a man with a beard and no hair, never call him by his real name and stay away from him at all costs, he can be very deceiving" Olaf pointed out and went back to driving "Mr. Olaf?" Steph asked and he turned around "Are there any children in VFD?" Olaf thought for a moment as though he didn't know much about VFD "Yes, there is Snicket's little brother, he is called Lemony, and I do believe he has a twin sister called K, I don't know her real name, and please call me Count Olaf" Steph nodded and then put the powder-puff all over her face.

The children recognised where the automobile had stopped and realised that they were back to the hotel that they had seen Count Olaf walk into earlier. They got out of the car and walked into a building with the words "The world is quite here" engraved into the wall. The children looked all around and saw a room shaped like a large eye. Emma gazed at her sister and they both looked at the floor where a small circle was carved into the floor. It looked just like the pupil on one's eye. Emma thought. They saw the eye pop up and looked at their sister whose head had just popped up. Olaf grabbed the children with so much force that they turned around so they couldn't see Beatrice immediately. Olaf walked into a little alcove with them and told them that they could never see there sister again. "Unless she is referred to VFD by another member then she will never find out" he paused for a long time "Or something bad will happen and we don't want that do we...." The children agreed and slumped down in there chairs. A small chubby man with ginger hair walked through the door and took the children. Olaf looked at them and whispered "See you soon" and they were whisked into another room by the chubby man who then said as though to himself "Let the tattoo ceremony begin."


	3. The Tattoo Ceromony

Steph gazed on in horror as Emma laid there on the large surgery bed having needles stuck in her. Steph was lucky because she was going last, but she hated needles and she was feeling very scared. Emma had wished Beatrice was here because he was going alphabetically and Emma started to wonder were Beatrice could be. "All Set" the man with the needle in his hand said and squirted some ink out of the end so it hit the floor and stained the white carpet. Although the carpet wasn't very white from all the black inky stains. He pulled the needle up and looked at a little chart on the wall then he drove it several inches into Emma's ankle. Emma bit her lip tight trying to stop the pain, but she couldn't stop the pain. It hurt her very badly and her whole body was shaking. "All done" The man with the needle in his hand pointed out and let Emma go and sit down. Her ankle was sore and numb

"Next" The man stared at Steph who appeared not to be moving. "Today would be nice" he pointed out and Steph looked at him "Sorry" she said as though she'd been day-dreaming and then she laid down in the same place where Emma had been laid. Emma wanted to see what her tattoo looked like. But her foot and ankle were to numb to move. So she took a pocket mirror from her pocket (the only thing she had rescued apart from her common place book) She angled it to her foot and stared in horror as her ankle stared back at her! "All done" The man told Steph and they were free to go. They walked outside and saw Olaf sat with a young girl who looked like she was in her teens. "Hello children" He gave them a nice big smile and turned to the woman "This is Esme'" Olaf pointed to her as well "These are the children I was telling you about Esme'" Esme' looked at the children as though they were sewer-rats "Olaf, it's not IN to take orphans in and be NICE to them" Olaf glared at her as though he had some commanding position over her.

"Count Olaf" Steph said curiously. "How did you get the real sugar bowl" Olaf eyed her up and down. Emma had now wished she asked that question because it was one of great intelligence. "When I came to your house to retrieve it I bought a duplicate with me. I took our bowl back then put the fake one in my hand so that Beatrice couldn't get her hands on it, then I popped into the hotel to make sure it was real. It has the hidden marks I put on it" he told them and pointed to the place. "You have the sugar bowl!" Esme's eyes widened and she gazed at the bowl which Olaf showed her under the table.

"If you have the sugar bowl then you'll return it to VFD won't you, Olaf" Olaf smiled at the man who had just walked out of the library "Snicket" He smirked and took the fake sugar bowl out of his pocket, "You want it?" Jacques stared at Olaf and nodded. Olaf put the real sugar bowl in Esme's hand and walked towards Jacques to put the fake one in his hand. Olaf placed it in his hands and Jacques examined it. Esme' stood up with the bowl in her pocket "Bye, Olaf" she waved and walked off immediately calling someone after she had left Olaf's hearing range. Jacques looked at the bowl again and told Olaf to wait there. Olaf smiled as he walked away and then his smile turned to a frown. "Children" He turned to the children and they looked at him with seriousness in their faces "Ignore Esme' she can be a bit into her In-ness at some times, if that makes sense, she only likes things that are 'in.'"

The children looked towards the large archway with the words "The world is quiet here" and saw that 2 men were stood there. The man Olaf had called Jacques Snicket and a man Olaf had warned them about. It was the man who defiantly had a beard, but no hair.


	4. The Schism

Beatrice had woken up at 4:30am to go down that passage again and see where it led to, because she had came up a ladder that was probably only half way down the passage. There was more passage way past the ladder, and this time she was going to solve the mystery. All she had with her were a few biscuits and a flash-light. She had the sugar bowl with her too. But you and I know that she hasn't got the real sugar bowl and Esme' has, and it's with great despair that I tell you this. Beatrice continued to walk for the next few hours until she saw a left turning that she hadn't noticed before. She also saw a right turning. She walked into the left one and realised it went uphill. Her legs were aching but she needed to find something, anything.

After 2 more hours of a very tiresome walk Beatrice came to a large Hole in the wall. She looked behind her for security Camera's. There weren't any so she walked through, only to find herself back in the hotel. She saw a man who looked like the twin of the evil man with Shiny eyes. She knew it wasn't him so she walked up to him and in her loudest voice she spoke "Excuse me," the man looked down "Are you lost?" Beatrice forced a smile "I walked sown a passageway in my house and I ended up here." She told him the truth. The man stopped and looked at her "You must be very tired, I suggest you go down there and get some sleep, make sure you're up for evening meal at 6" The man bid her farewell then she walked down the corridor and into a huge bedroom.

She only saw one other person in this room, but she realised it wasn't night, so she lie down on her bed and fell to sleep. About 3 hours later she felt someone twisting her. "Who's that?" She said opening her eyes. She saw a boy, not much older than herself. He looked at her then told her that the evening meal was ready. Beatrice was delighted to see a grand table set in the room with more than 300 people sat at it. But she wasn't delighted to see the evil man with shiny eyes, who she saw at once because the table had room for three people at the head of it, they were the many with shiny eyes, the man who looked like him but didn't have shiny eyes, and a very tall man with a beard and no hair. Beatrice ate her meal in silence even though the boy who woke her up was next to her. Once the meal was over Beatrice stood up and walked back down the corridor. "Stop" she heard someone shout and she turned around to see who it was "What?" she asked the boy. "Don't you want pudding?" he asked her "No, I have gone off of my food." The boy smiled "You were fine earlier" Beatrice looked right at him "I saw someone" she told him then continued advancing towards the bedroom. "That isn't the kid's bedroom" He pointed out to Beatrice. "Where is the kid's bedroom then?" The boy led her to the kid's bedroom.

"Thanks" Beatrice muttered when she got there "My name is Lemony, Lemony Snicket, you might have met my brother Jacques, high leader of VFD, he was talking to you before you came to bed" Beatrice looked at her feet "There is one question" She looked right at him. Lemony smiled "What would that be?" Beatrice looked at her feet this time "Were the three at the table high leaders of VFD?" Lemony nodded then told her "My brother, Jacques is high leader, then the man with no hair but a beard, we don not call him by his name and the third leader Count Olaf, Jacques doesn't like him, and neither do I" Beatrice smiled "Neither do I." Lemony knew there was more to this girl than met the eye. "You know Count Olaf?" Beatrice didn't personally know him but she knew what he did. "He set fire to our house, and then went in, in attempts to steal the sugar bowl. He didn't get it though because I still have it and he kidnapped my two sisters." Lemony considered "VFD train children, but they most certainly don't kill their parents." Beatrice wondered for a moment "So what do we do?" Lemony smiled as though he'd been waiting all his life for this. "We tell my brother" Beatrice looked bedazzled "Now?" she asked "Now" Lemony agreed and led her back to the grand dining room, many heads turned as they walked up the corridor. Steph and Emma looked astonished. Beatrice looked at them, but she didn't know who they were because of the powder smeared all over their faces. Olaf turned to him "Did little Snicket loose his blanket" lemony snarled and walked up to Jacques. He told her all about the fire and everything Olaf had done to Beatrice's family, which included throwing her mother into a bookcase that swivelled round and led to a pit of lions. Jacques turned around to discover Olaf, the man who they did not name and another quarter of VFD running away down a hilltop. Jacques sighed. "Fellow VFD members, we are no longer safe. Find some cars. We are going to the Valley Of Four draughts" at that Jacques walked away, an ambitious leader, with Lemony following him. Beatrice followed behind Lemony, and at that moment she realised that the people with powder all over their faces were Steph and Emma. And they had gone with the bad guys


	5. 20 Years Later

Steph and Emma had sat with Olaf and listened to him and the 2 men talking. After a while Jacques got up and left. Then the man who Olaf seemed to be scared of whispered something to him involving what would happen if someone came. Emma and Steph hadn't understood what this meant, but they now knew. They had been discussing what to do if Jacques found out what Olaf had done. They now knew fires weren't aloud in the organisation of VFD. But Olaf had them. They were in his automobile again. They had driven through the city past a large set of apartments and into the hinterlands. The hinterlands were meant to be very dangerous and unsafe, but there was nothing there. Emma looked out of the window and saw land that stretched for miles. But she didn't see anything as interesting as what Emma saw. She gazed out of her window at the Mortmain Mountains; they were badly misshapen like something out of a child's fairy tale.

Count Olaf got out of the car at the bottom of the mountains and sat down on the desert land. Emma and Steph got out and they both asked Olaf "Why are we sat here?" Olaf as usual smiled and told them "We are waiting for Jacques Snicket" he explained "He will come here and try to inhabit the Valley of Four draughts" He pointed into a far corner of the mountains. Emma nodded and sat down "How long will we wait?" As Long as it takes Olaf told the children and he lay down and started to sleep.

I promised you in the first chapter that I would only use the phrase "Meanwhile back at the ranch" once, but it is with great sorrow and tragedy that I tell you I am using it again. Meanwhile back at the ranch, in this case which means the Hotel, Jacques got into a large automobile, with Lemony and Beatrice in the back. He drove through the city past a large set of apartments and turned left towards a large carnival. When they did arrive at the empty carnival Jacques got out and told the children "This will be our new home!" and he pointed at the carnival as though it was a fun place to be in. Beatrice forced a smile and ventured into the carnival.

For the third and final time I will use the dauntless phrase "Meanwhile back at the ranch" in this story. Meanwhile back at the ranch Olaf waked up and looked around him. All the bad VFD members had gone. He looked at his watch in horror. "They aren't coming, are they?" he used a rhetorical question on the siblings. They nodded and got back in the car. Emma looked at the mountains for what she thought would be the last time. "Were do we go now?" Emma asked Olaf, "My home" he told them.

20 Years Later 

"Enter, Baudelaires" called a voice that they did not recognise. The 3 children climbed down the ladder into the submarine. And saw the two powder faced women stood in the submarine. "Hello, Baudelaires" called the powder faced women who had just left Count Olaf. Violet forced a smile and sat down with Sunny. The children looked out of the periscope and asked them what they were doing. "Rescuing you" The ladies pointed out, we saw you and what Olaf did. But we haven't been able to find your friend. Violet understood. "Where are we going?" Klaus asked the 2 women. "The last safe place" she said as though Klaus must be extremely dumb not to know. Klaus smiled and sat down.

"The journey will take 2 more hours to get to the shore." The first lady who they knew as Flo pointed out. "Then it will be a day's walk to the Hotel" The second lady who they knew as Tocuna told them. Violet stood up and looked around the submarine "You said your parents died in a fire" Violet paused slightly "Was it Olaf?" Steph smiled "My name is Steph, we do not know who set a fire in our house, but Olaf was there" Klaus asked a question next "You said you lost a sibling in a fire, did she die?" Emma answered this one "I'm Emma and we thought we had lost our sister Beatrice in a fire, but we saw her in the hotel 20 years ago. We never saw her since, her whereabouts are unknown." Klaus heard the name Beatrice and a smile appeared on his face. Violet and Sunny knew he had worked something out but they didn't know what "Is something funny Mr. Baudelaire?" Steph turned to face him. "No, something is amazing" he told them, "Esme' who you have been working for told us that she would steal from us, as Beatrice stole from her." Klaus paused. "The Sugar Bowl?" Klaus told them, Emma and Steph looked at each other in delight.

BANG!

Every one jolted forwards. Emma fell to the ground and begun bleeding. Steph got up and looked through the periscope. "Oh God!" She exclaimed. Violet got up and ran to the periscope and saw a distinct body bleeding. The body of Quigley Quagmire.


	6. Briny Beach

Violet ran to the edge of the submarine in despair then pulled the latch to the periscope open. Emma who had seen her stupid actions ran and stopped Violet from rescuing Quigley. "Get off of me!" Violet shrieked at Emma who had been steering the submarine and who had hit Quigley because instead of seeing where they were going she had been talking to the 3 siblings. Emma kept a firm grip to Violet and slid the periscope latch so it shut. "Look!" She pointed to the little hole in which she had seen Quigley through. She looked and saw that a large boat had actually been what hit the Submarine, causing it to crush Quigley Quagmire. They saw a very familiar man step out of the boat and down a ladder. The man grabbed Quigley and pulled him back up and laid him down on the boat, then went back inside the deck of the boat. The man was called Count Olaf.

Violet started to cry hysterically "He has our friend!" She shouted at Steph who had steered underwater and kept on riding towards shore further away from Olaf. "Why can't we rescue him?" Emma stopped "You know what Count Olaf is capable of" She said very strictly. "He will take you as well if you try to rescue him. We'll have to wait at the hotel." Emma told Violet. Violet stared at her "You could help" she tailed off rather weakly. Steph butted in this time. "As Emma said, you know what that man is capable of." Violet sat back down and began to cry. Klaus did not use the antagonising phrase "there, there" Because Mr. Poe had said it when the Baudelaire Parents had perished in the terrible fire. And that would make all three siblings even sadder. They knew Quigley wasn't dead, yet.

"Here we are" Steph told the children. Klaus and Sunny got off and stared straight back into the Submarine. "We can't walk on here" He said very sadly as though there was a fire on the beach. Emma stepped outside. "It's a beach, what is wrong with it?" Emma asked Klaus. Violet upon hearing the word 'beach' felt even sadder. She knew were they were, on the shore of Briny Beach. Steph helped Violet up and walked her out of the Submarine. Then Emma walked Klaus to the road, with Sunny in her arms. And Violet walked slowly with Steph. Once they were on the main road Steph called a taxi-cab to the Hotel. Violet sat in the back with Sunny on her knee and Klaus was at the other end of the car. Emma squeezed between them and Steph sat in the front.

"I know this is hard for you" Emma told the children. "But I trust you found the passageway under 667 Dark Avenue?" She turned to Klaus when she asked this. "Yes" Klaus murmured "What about it?" Emma looked at her feet for a long time then looked up "It leads to the passageway built underneath your house." She told Klaus although he already knew because he had walked down it to escape. "The day your house burnt down" She stopped for a second as though she was trying to keep all three Baudelaire's in suspense. "Somebody walked down that passageway. Someone who had access." She told them all, still facing Klaus. "This happened to us to. We know because Count Olaf told us. He told us it was an evil man named Jacques Snicket." Klaus stared at her "Jacques died! Olaf killed him." Emma nodded "We know, we know Olaf burned our home down." Violet felt sad for her new adult friends. She now knew that other people went through such a miserable life as the Baudelaires had.

Klaus turned to face Emma "Who burned down our house? Who had access to 667 Dark Avenue's secret passageway?" He asked her. "Many people have had access to that passageway, Esme' Squalor, our sister Beatrice and even Jerome Squalor." She told Klaus. Klaus would have jumped out of his seat and banged his head on the taxi roof. But this one lucky time he was fortunate, as he was wearing a seatbelt, "Jerome!" He shouted in amazement, and took a sheet of paper out of Quigley's notepad which had 2 initials written the page these were the initials "J.S."


	7. The Good VFD

Violet knew at once what Klaus had been thinking when he humped up and said Jerome and she tied her hair up into a bun almost instantly. Anyone who knew Violet well would have known she did that when she was thinking so that something as trivial as her hair wouldn't stop her inventive mind. She remembered the note to "JS" and everything about the jam-jar and was actually happy that they were going to the last safe place that Olaf would be headed to as well. Violet knew that whoever "JS" was whether it was the late Jacques Snicket or Jerome Squalor. They knew that Jerome would know. And would help them stop the bad side of VFD from getting the Sugar Bowl, whatever it did and the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortune. Sunny who had been sitting on Klaus' lap had hit the ground when Klaus jolted up a small bit, so she had crawled to Violet because she was a bit scared.

"Here you are ma'am" The driver said to Steph who was sat in the front in a rather common tone, Steph put a ten pound note in his hands, then got out and walked to the doors. Klaus got out followed by Emma and Sunny was still in the car biting at a chunk of wood she had found on the floor. Violet picked her up and got out of the car. They walked up to where Steph was standing and Steph opened the door. Steph and Emma saw what looked like exactly the same hotel as it did 20 years ago. It was still a large entrance room with a pillar bearing the words "The World Is Quite Here" on them and Violet remembered what a waiter had told them in the Anxious Clown restaurant. "I didn't realise this was a sad occasion" was what a tall skinny man with bony fingers and a large top hat told them. He had a tattoo of an eye on his ankle and had one long eyebrow. Klaus looked at him "It can't be"

The man looked down at Klaus as though he didn't know him. "What can't be?" he asked Klaus who was gazing at his eyes. "You look like a man who was familiar to us" Klaus told him. The man with the top hat jumped back in surprise "Count Olaf?" He said as though the name was something to be very scared of. Klaus looked up "You do look like Count Olaf, but he wasn't the person I was thinking of, I was thinking of Jacques Snicket."

The man smiled "So I should, I am his brother" Klaus looked astonished. And then he asked this man a question he had never dared ask Jacques "Why do you look like Count Olaf?" Klaus asked him, and the man looked very sad indeed "He" The man paused for a short while "He is my cousin" he told the Baudelaire's and this time it was Sunny who remembered, Count Olaf was a distant cousin of theirs.

The man took of his hat to reveal a lot of grey hair. "What brings you to the Hotel then?" The Baudelaires looked at each other then at Steph expecting her to tell him everything. "The Valley of Four Draughts burned down a while ago." Steph told the man, he looked at his watch "4 hours ago" he told her. Steph nodded "On a near hilltop Count Olaf captured a lot of children, and one of his own henchmen. He was with them." She told him the word them very slowly as though it needed to be emphasised so much. The man looked shocked "Are they headed here?" He asked the mysterious women who he didn't know. "For the sugar Bowl" Steph told him. The man nodded. "We shall be ready for them." He told Emma and Steph and turned around "oh" he turned around again and faced the Baudelaire's "Have you children come to help VFD, or are you just with these charming ladies?" He asked Violet because she did look the eldest. "We are here to help" Violet told him and he smiled. "Are you in charge?" Klaus asked the man who they now knew but they did not know his name. "Yes" He smiled. "It is a very long story and we don't have the time for long stories now. We have a battle to prepare for." Emma smiled at the man who she recognised as the man at the dinner table 20 years ago. "We shall help you too, Lemony" He looked astonished. "You know my name?" Emma smiled "We never forgot." Lemony stared at them "You were there! At the schism" He jumped up. Steph smiled. "When Jacques died we got news that the man with a beard's wife was also in control of the bad VFD, so we knew Olaf wasn't as high a rank, therefore we recruited 2 of our own leaders." Lemony told Steph. "Who are they?" Klaus asked. Lemony sat down at a chair "Me, obviously because I was Jacques' brother." He stopped for a moment. "Who else leads the good VFD?" Klaus asked Lemony.

"I do!" A woman shouted who had come from behind a pillar. "Beatrice!" Emma and Steph said with a lot of joy in their voices.


	8. He Led The Evil to Her

"Hello" My sisters. Beatrice smiled. Emma and Steph both hugged her. Violet and Klaus knew not to interrupt their reunion, but this was a question they had been dwelling on for almost a month. "Did you steal from Esme' Squalor?" He directed to Beatrice. Emma and Steph stepped back and let Klaus ask as many questions as he wanted. They had a few questions themselves. Beatrice smiled "No" then looked down "I took back what was rightfully mine." She told the children. She took out a small shiny object out of her large coat pocket, "The Sugar Bowl!" Klaus exclaimed. "Yes" Beatrice smiled a smile so true that it was a joke to Olaf's fake smile. "The bad VFD Are coming" Klaus told her. Beatrice nodded "So I heard."

Lemony turned to Beatrice. "Beatrice" He paused "Take the children and your siblings for some food, I have some calls to make" Beatrice smiled a very false smile to Mr. Snicket then led everyone to the dining hall. Klaus sat down with Sunny on his lap. There were no high chairs.

"Are you hungry?" Beatrice asked the children. "Yes, I haven't eaten in a while" Klaus told her remembering his last meal at the Caligari Carnival. Beatrice smiled and took out a pack of ready-made pancakes. Everyone got 6 each. After the meal Beatrice sat down with them and answered all of their questions. "Who will Lemony call?" Klaus asked her. "The rest of us" Beatrice smiled to Klaus. "Who is in the good VFD?" He asked her. Beatrice began to count off of her fingers. "Hector, Jerome Squalor, Esm..." She paused. "Hector" She began again "Jerome, Al..." she paused again as though she had made a big mistake. "Jerome and Hector" she paused "Are all you children need to know." Klaus looked at her in a very quizzical way "You were going to say Esme' weren't you." Beatrice looked at the floor "It is very easy for one to forget" Beatrice pointed out. Klaus didn't believe her for one second.

Lemony walked back into the room and sat down "They are on their way." He told Beatrice. Beatrice nodded and left the room. Violet looked into the distance and saw ma black automobile approaching. But Olaf's automobile was still in the hinterlands. And they had caught fire. It had to be Jerome or Hector. Or Both, There was a knock on the door and Lemony went to open it. "She acted strange" Emma told Steph who nodded. Klaus looked into the notepads in his pocket. Duncan and Isadora's broken ones and the one Quigley had given him. Klaus set all 3 on the table and began studying them. Emma saw and took a pad out of her pocket. It was yellow, she handed it to Klaus. Steph did the same. Klaus smiled at his new friends and leafed through all of them desperately. He looked to the door which had just opened and saw Lemony talking to a women they had forgotten in all of this. Justice Strauss!

"Baudelaires" she murmured quietly. Then a bit louder "Baudelaires" She was very happy to see them. "How are you?" Violet asked happily. "I am fine" Justice smiled "I have heard about your difficult times with Count Olaf following you everywhere. So shortly after you had left Olaf's care I joined VFD. In hopes of one day adopting you wonderful children" Violet smiled "That would be great. But Mr Poe wouldn't allow it." Justice looked rather depressed for a moment but then the next new arrival said "He has no choice in the matter." Violet turned to se Hector, Isadora and Duncan. She jumped up and ran to them followed by Klaus and Sunny. They told each other about everything that had happened and then Violet t6old the triplets about Quigley. Isadora and Quigley looked so happy "I knew he'd have made it!" she shouted in great happiness. Justice broke the next bit of silence by asking Hector a question "Mr. Poe is in charge of the Baudelaire's affairs, he wouldn't allow me to care for them, what do you mean by he has no choice?" Hector smiled "When the Baudelaire's were in the care of Josephine Anwhistle she had said that the children had to live with Capt. Sham, who we know was Count Olaf" he paused slightly at the name. "Mr. Poe couldn't change this." Justice looked at him. "What does that have to do with this?" She asked puzzled. "Unless I am mistaken, I was the Baudelaire's last legal guardian, which means I have the say of which they live with after this battle has been won."

Violet remembered what had happened when they were staying with Aunt Josephine and smiled. The smile soon faded as she looked to the door and saw Olaf, Esme' and the 2 people they didn't know standing there listening to the conversation. Olaf and Esme' walked in, followed by the 2 people who the Baudelaires didn't know and Olaf shouted "Let the fun begin!" Violet would have normally been very casual if Olaf was going to try and kill her and there were many adults she knew who cared for her in the room. But as she looked to the window were Jerome's automobile had been driving towards the hotel she saw it was parked and he was tied up in the front. He had led the evil people to the Sugar Bowl, whatever it was. And obviously he had been tricked. But she had hoped again. Beatrice was untying him.


	9. Never judge a Book by It's cover

Why had Jerome led Count Olaf, Esme' and the 2 unknown people to the Baudelaire's? He had never seemed like a bad person. Perhaps he had been forced. Violet saw Beatrice take a penknife out and cut the knot. Violet recognised the knot as "Tedium Revulsion" It was a simple and basic knot to tie, but it was difficult to escape without a knife or strong scissors. She thought Olaf must have trapped him. "Where is it?" Olaf asked again looking right at Lemony. Olaf was much older than Lemony, but they looked exactly the same. Lemony shook violently for a second and pointed to Beatrice "Beatrice has it" he told Olaf. Olaf turned to walk outside and retrieve it. "She won't give you it" Lemony pointed out. Olaf turned around and struck Lemony on the face, causing him to fall backwards. "Don't ever tell me what to do." Esme' laughed wickedly as her boyfriend walked outside to catch Beatrice freeing Jerome.

"Baudelaire Brats!" Esme' pointed at the 3 siblings "This is adult business, come with me, so you don't see the violence." Violet looked at Lemony desperately. He merely nodded. Violet carried Sunny to the door. "And you, bookworm!" Klaus put all the pads in his pocket and came to the door. Esme' gestured up the stairs, "Today!" she shouted and all 3 children, including Sunny ran upstairs. Esme' walked to a room with a balcony and saw Olaf just leaving the house. "Come here, children" She smiled sweetly like it was a joke. The 3 children obeyed but kept their distance because Esme' had once pushed them down an elevator shaft. She took a cell phone out of her pocket and dialled desperately. The children looked down expecting to see Count Olaf pick up his mobile phone. But the person who did pick up his phone was Jerome. "Esme?" he asked into the phone as he recognised the number. "Olaf is coming! Get yourself and Beatrice out of there." Esme' had tipped Jerome off then hung up.

"Why?" Violet asked "Why did you tip Jerome off?" Esme' smiled again showing very clean teeth and a tooth jewel on one of her front teeth. "Olaf can't hear me, and neither can them 2 crooks." Violet stared deep into Esme's eyes. "I thought you were on Olaf's side." Esme' like most of the evil people Violet knew smiled yet again. "I am an actress" and like most evil villains she paused "I am very skilled, In fact I am so good, I fooled Count Olaf. I gave Beatrice the sugar bowl when Olaf wasn't in my house to return to VFD. Then a few weeks after he returned asking where it was and I told him she had stole it, he would have killed me had he known, I only did this for VFD." She told the Baudelaire's. Violet believed it. "She's manipulating you!" Klaus shouted. "She is evil, how can you believe her. She was one of the people who had access." Violet suddenly remembered the burdensome day and turned to Esme' "Who killed my parents?" Violet asked Esme'. Esme' paused for a long time then put her hands on the table "Your father." She told Violet. Violet jumped in disbelief. "NO!" she screamed "He wouldn't." tears started pouring from her face. "Never!" she screamed again.

Esme' put her hands on Violets face. "He did it for you" she paused "He did it for all of you." Klaus stood up in tears "Why?" he cried even more "Why would he let us live with somebody as evil as Count Olaf?" Esme' paused and faltered "He was on the good VFD. He didn't want the bad VFD taking you." She told him. "Remember how he insisted you went to the beach." Violet suddenly remembered the day that they went to the beach. The day that seemed even more terrible now, she didn't want to believe this. "What about our mother?" Esme' stopped for a very long time. "Remember the passageway underneath Jerome's house." she rhetorically told the children. "Get on with it!" Klaus snapped. "I'm getting there Klaus" she smiled and then began crying herself. She pulled a VFD disguise kit out of her bag. She took off her feather hat and put it in her bag. She undid the Bun which her hair was currently in to reveal long wavy hair. She took off her stiletto shoes to reveal she didn't have a tattoo of an eye on her ankle. She took off her long fire patterned dress which she was still wearing to reveal a large white dress which she was wearing. Sunny recognised the long white dress which she had bought with Violet for a present. Violet recognised the deep blue eyes. Klaus recognised the long wavy black hair. All 3 siblings recognised her. She wasn't really Esme' Squalor, she was their mother!


	10. Room For nine more?

"Mum!" Klaus shouted and walked up to her and hugged her. "I missed you so much!" Mrs. Baudelaire smiled at all of her children and was happy Olaf hadn't done anything to them. "Tell us everything" Klaus asked his mother and she smiled. "I saw him" and like many of the food people Klaus knew she began to cry. "He took a match and set our library on fire, I asked him what he thought he was doing. He told me that he never wanted the bad VFD to take you children away from us. He said he was going to get us and live on the streets. I wouldn't stand for it. I told him he couldn't and he just left." Tears started pouring down Mrs. Baudelaires face. She did in a way look like Esme' (but she was Esme') Klaus reminded himself of the disguise "I ran down the passageway and into the penthouse. I ran to Briny Beach to fetch you. But you had gone. So I went to live with Jerome. He had been my best friend at VFD. Eventually I grew to love him; I hope you understand after what your father did. We got married. I had pretended to be friends with Count Olaf since, I was in disguise and the only reason I went with him and hurt your new friends was so that I could check on you, I would never have hurt you."

Klaus knew Esme' had never hit him, nor had she trapped Sunny in a large tower, or pulled Violet's armpits so they were sore. Olaf had done all of these things and more. When Violet was going to be killed Esme' had lit a fire in hopes of getting Violet out alive. Klaus knew this was their mother. "I understand" he whispered to his mother and hugged her. No one had ever told him his mother's real name. It was know that he asked her "Mum" he trailed off "What is your first name?" Mrs. Baudelaire paused for a short while "Esme', I never told anyone at VFD, only your father and Jerome. So Olaf had no idea who I was" Klaus smiled understanding that his mother had had just as a miserable time as the 3 Baudelaire children, who were no longer orphans.

"That's very nice Esme'" said a familiar voice with a sneer. Stood in the doorway was Count Olaf with a gun pointing to Beatrice's head "Give me my sugar Bowl!" Olaf screamed at his girlfriend, who was no longer his girlfriend and never had been because she was Jerome's wife and Mrs. Baudelaire. Esme' pulled a bowl out of her pocket. "This one?" she told Olaf. Olaf nodded. "Let Beatrice go!" She commanded Olaf and for the second time he had shown fear. He let go of Beatrice and let her walk to Esme'. Esme' placed the bowl in Beatrice's hands. Olaf roared and ran into Beatrice knocking her back. He held her above the balcony. "Give me the bowl!" He screamed in anger. "Fetch!" Beatrice laughed and threw the Sugar Bowl down the balcony. Olaf roared again and threw Beatrice down after it. The other people in the doorway screamed and Lemony Snicket jumped down after Beatrice. Everyone looked down to see the sugar bowl smashed and Beatrice bleeding badly. "She's dead!" Lemony screamed so that everyone could hear him. "And because of what Olaf did, I can never forgive him." Lemony began climbing the hotel stairs. Olaf looked around desperately for support. He had no more henchmen. The hook handed man was in a net in his car boot. The powder faced women had left him, Esme' was a good VFD member in disguise and the 2 other people had been knocked out by Emma and Steph.

Olaf screamed and shot himself with the harpoon gun. He had died. Snicket came up and saw Olaf dead "The beast" he screamed. "He killed her" he said and began to cry.

3 hours later 

Esme' hugged her children tight. Klaus, Violet and Sunny were so happy. They would be living with their mother and their step-dad for the rest of their lives. And the Baudelaire fortune could be used by Esme' their mother. Hector had fallen in love with Justice Strauss and they were set to marry. The 2 remaining Quagmires were going to live with Esme' and Jerome with them, along with Emma and Steph. Violet searched the net and let all the snow scouts out. She smiled as she saw Quigley get free. "Move! Cakesniffer" She pushed Violet aside. "Leave my daughter alone!" Esme' shouted at the dirty girl and they al laughed as Carmelita Spats fell in a puddle. Life had turned out alright for all the good VFD members. And now all they needed to do was buy a whole house. To fit 9 people!

THE END!


End file.
